Futures Cafe

The following is a summary of the discussion that took place in the group looking at support models for mobile IT .

Chris Mayo writes:

The University currently has a “pick-and-mix” strategy, a lot of early adopters within the university (both staff and students). We previously had a “set menu” strategy with Windows Mobile, however this has fallen away with new advances in mobile IT. This was mainly because the effort wasn’t sustainable or resources available.

There is a need for advice on what mobile computing works on our services.

The best model that fits the university is the “set menu” strategy, which if we were to adopt should be limited on how long we will support it for. For example, if our menu had one device that device would have a date for start of support and a date for the end of support. It is thought that 2 years may be a good timescale.

If the menu strategy was adopted it may be possible to provide automatic configuration and managing of devices.

There is blurring on the line of Personal/Business devices as mobile computing becomes a huge part of our life’s.

The amount of support on a particular device should consider how much time this may take in support and therefore the cost to the university. If 10 members of staff had a Bristol university device, would it be cheaper to buy a new device if a huge widespread problem occurred.

If we did have a set model we would need to incorporate this within our current test strategy of new and existing systems.

Technology is always moving and adapting, any future strategy would require a significant resource to keep it up to date and supported.

There is a need to move away from local synchronisation to “over the air” synchronisation.

Support Staff would need access to any mobile devices to be comfortable to offer support (which is incredibly hard with a “pick-and-mix” strategy).

Problem with some mobile plans is data cost, where (at time of writing) this can be up to 80p per MB. Ideally we want capped tariffs to avoid unexpected charges, while still offering a flexible service that meets users needs.

If there is a university strategy on what device to use then we should stick to it, not allowing special exceptions. If another device is to be used then it should be explicit that the level of support would be incredibly limited.

We should present the cost of not adopting a unified strategy.

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After the formal presentations the participants split into two groups.  The following is a summary of the discussion that took place with the group looking at the Mobile Campus Assistant.

As a starting point the three continuing issues with the project were looked at, namely:

1. Where next in terms of supporting such a service financially?
2. What uses could be made of such a tool?
3. Implications for the harmonisation of data

In looking at point 1 it was felt that this project was certainly worthwhile and had much to go for it in terms of enhancing the reputation of the University.  For example, it would be an impressive tool for visitors to use on an Open Day.  However, the point was made that spending money in the current economic climate on a project aiming to enhance a users experience and access may not be a top priority.  The Alumni fund was mentioned as a possible source of future funding.

The suggestion that small firms could be approached for support for advertising seemed like a lot of effort for minimal reward and it would be far better if the University had an institutional relationship with the small business community and this could be part of bigger package.  It was also felt that this type of advertising while suitable for students may not be for staff.  But the point was made that although students would be the main target group for the application there was clear overlap for staff use.  The fear was also expressed that the Mobile Campus Assistant should not simply replicate existing commercial services but should look to base development on recognised need of the user from a University perspective.

The point was made that once the mobile campus assistant was completed the maintenance costs of running the service could be quite modest.  However, the point was made that there will probably be continuing demands to enhance and add to the services.

This led on to a discussion of a potential overlap with the University portal, MyBristol and how the initiatives should work together by offering personalised content and dashboard information.  This raised the issue about the importance of ensuring that sources of data were more open and accessible by different platforms to allow use of that content in different ways.  Issues about logging in on a mobile were raised at this point.  The session finished with a final warning that any discussion on technology which is moving so fast needs to beware of speaking as if the environment will remain the same in the future.  The point was raised about the potential of the next generation of mobile devices such as a tablet device which would be a half-way between a phone and a netbook.

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The next Futures Cafe will be on Wednesday 2nd December, 10.15 am for 10.30 to 12.30. We’ll have two presentations around the topic of Mobile Computing, a cup of coffee, and plenty of questions for discussion and debate.

Speakers:
Nick Skelton, ISYS, on Mobile IT: taming the unruly toddler
Nikki Rogers and Mike Jones, ILRT, on Mobile Campus Assistant

Places are limited to 50 on a first-come-first-served basis. Please book your place by 27th November using the booking form in the Events section of the Cafe website http://www.bris.ac.uk/futures-cafe/events/ (Futures Cafes are aimed mainly at staff who support IT in the University of Bristol, but other interested staff and students are also welcome, subject to places being available).

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This blog requires a username if you’d like to post a comment, to reduce the inevitable spam problem.

A colleague has pointed out that it isn’t at all obvious how you get a username! Apologies – it doesn’t say anywhere here.

The answer is:

1. Go to http://blogs.ilrt.org
2. Click on “Sign up”
3. Choose “Just give me a username, please”

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Following last weeks Futures Cafe on Cloud Computing & Google Apps, presentations  and further reading from Andrew & Sam are now available on the Futures Cafe website.Thank you to Sam and Andrew for their thought-provoking talks, and everyone who took part in such a well attended session.

Here is a writeup of the discussion from the  breakout groups following the talks. Whether you were or were not at the event, please continue the discussion by adding your comments to this blog.

Advantages of Cloud Computing

• The chance to pass on problems / complaints to a third party
• Relieves us of the problem of planning our data architecture over the next
  10 years
• It’s everywhere – makes it easier for mobile & remote access
• Gives the users control / flexibility
• Potential to provide cost savings
• Issues of risk are the same with any external provider of storage – the
  same questions would need to be raised even if we were talking about UWE
  hosting our data.
• Crossplatform (get us away from the Microsoft vs Apple vs Linux debate)

Disadvantages of Cloud Computing

• You lose direct control
• Audit trails may be difficult
• Data protection issues
• Third party commitments to hold data locally – NHS, MOD, Commercial
  partners
• Security of the service -retrieval of data
• Risk of vendor lock-in
• We have little leverage with a company the size of Google – tools may change in a direction we are not happy with, with no warning

If we look further at Google apps, what apps should we prioritize and for whom

• Tools are good for students but the cloud aspect makes it inappropriate for
  some staff due to concerns about data security
• There is potential for less sensitive tools (such as calendar or wiki-type tools?) to be used
• There are benefits not just in terms of cost saving but providing tools that users
  expect and like

Other comments and questions

“There is a difference between a service provided by Google in the “cloud”, and one provided by a national academic facility over the network. In the latter case we know and trust the motivation of the provider.”

“Google offers Apps for free to Education in order to “get ‘em young”. Is this any different to the approach of other software suppliers who offer universities substantial discounts on their products?”

“If we were to go to using Google Apps, would it always be free, and would Google ever decide to terminate the service? There would be a problem with lock-in.”

“Consider what students will come here knowing. Currently we assume they know how to use Microsoft Office. That may change and who knows what it will be in 2 or 3 years. We have seen an increase in the use of Google Calendar.”

“Google Apps is a limited range of applications. Group working by students is now a lot more prevalent, but our students also need to collaborate using specialist software, such as Matlab or Maple. Is it difficult when data is split between local storage and the cloud?”

“What would the implications be of letting members of staff or students use whatever applications they like?”

Conclusions

Cloud computing provides opportunities but also risks that need to be mitigated against.  This is true even if we were looking to store data in another institution. The cloud concept raises significant concerns over audit trial of information, data security and most importantly third party arrangements. Even if we were to satisfy ourselves that Google offers sufficient data security, it could discourage potential research partners (eg defence, NHS) from working with us.

Google apps offer the most advantages/least risks for our undergraduate students. However the cost savings would be very limited if we had to spend time and money on deploying Google tools while also maintaining or replacing our existing services for postgrads and staff.

It may be better to wait until more other UK universities have  laid the ground.  Could Google work with UCISA or others to develop and share with us a template SLA specifically tailored to the concerns of UK HE?

From a legal point-of-view, it makes a huge difference whether the data is hosted in the EU or not. In practical terms it might not – Google is still a US company and subject to the influence of US and other governments. We would however be doing about as much as possible to cover ourselves.

Google’s standard contract currently allows them to host your data anywhere – they like the flexibility to do this for resilience reasons. Google don’t say much about this, but are working on schemes to keep data geographically closer to home. Will Google in future offer an education SLA with explicit guarantees that data is hosted in the EU?

Potentially Google offers APIs for our existing systems to integrate with google apps (e.g address books). There may be opportunities for Google Calendar to integrate with Oracle. Some staff (and many students) will adopt Google and other consumer cloud computing tools irrespective of what we do. Can we take advantage of/manage this? For example can we allow staff to export a view of their “corporate” Oracle Calendar into a “personal” Google Calendar?

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A quick reminder that the Cloud Computing event is today, 2pm-4pm at UniLit, Berkeley Square. See the location on the unilit website.

All places are now booked. We look forward to seeing you later for what promises to be a very interesting event.

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A reminder that the next Futures Cafe is on Cloud Computing & Google Apps is on 19th March at 2pm. We are again returning to the Unilit club in Berkley Square, and are delighted to welcome two guest speakers. We’ve had over 50 bookings already, but a handful of places are still available.

Andrew Charlesworth studied Law at the universities of Warwick and Cambridge. He is currently Senior Research Fellow in IT and Law, and Director of the Centre for IT and Law (CITL) at the University of Bristol. He researches, teaches and provides consultancy services in a wide range of IT-linked fields – data protection, intellectual property, internet law and e-commerce law.

Samantha Peters is  Business Development Manager – Google Apps for Education, EMEA. Samantha is focused on building partnerships with Educational institutes within EMEA. Samantha holds an MSc in International Business from King’s College London and a BSc in Biotechnology from University College London.

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Future of Technology in Education 2008 was an event organised by the University of London Computer Centre back in October. I wish I could have been there, but it being Fresher’s Week I was a little busy! I’ve caught up on the event today online and thought I’d share it with others here.

Most of the presentations are available  (videos of morning sessions and afternoon sessions) as is a summary report. Equally useful and more informal, several delegates blogged about the event – I found this FOTE2008 writeup from nixsight the most enjoyable and useful summary.

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Two talks coming up which may be of interest – both on 2 February 2009

Graham Spittle - A smarter planet: technology innovation and why it matters
A University of Bristol Centenary Lecture
2 February 09, 18.00-19.00
Wills Memorial Building, Bristol

Clay Shirky – The web, new networks and organisations
In association with the University of Bristol and Creative Technology Network
2 February 09, 19.30-20.30
Wills Memorial Building, Bristol

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The “2009 Horizon Report,” the latest edition of the annual list of technology trends to watch in education, is compiled based on news reports, research studies, and interviews with experts…..”

<http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/>

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